(#04) Balancing

Press the side of your foot against the wall. Can you balance on that foot alone? No way: the wall prevents you from shifting your center of gravity inside your base of support. Can you balance an index card on the point of a pin? It's easy: curve the card so the pin point remains above the card's center of gravity. To practice balancing is to understand the science of balancing. To move pennies along the length of a meter stick that pivots this way and that is to discover the mathematics of balancing. To construct mobiles and cantilevers is to apply concepts of balancing to art and engineering. Have you been wanting to try a multidisciplinary approach? Try Balancing!

(#04) BALANCING is part of our Self-Directing Task Card Series. It is a 48 page soft-bound book organized into three main parts:

INTRODUCTION
* A TOPS Model for Effective Science Teaching * Getting Ready * Gathering Materials * Sequencing Task Cards * Long Range Objectives * Review / Test Questions

TEACHING NOTES (16 lessons)
* Center of Gravity * Plumb Line * Tipsy * Against the Wall
* Stable / Unstable / Neutral * Dancing on a Pinhead * Meter Stick Balance * Math in the Balance (1) * Math in the Balance (2)
* Penny's Worth * Small Change * Beam Me Up! * Unequal Arms * Cantilever * Weigh a Friend * Your Mass in Kilograms

REPRODUCIBLE LINE MASTERS
* 16 Open-Ended Task Cards * Tilt Gauge * Mobile Strips
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(#04) BALANCING requires no lab equipment other than 10 mL graduated cylinders. Just photocopy the 16 task cards, gather simple materials (like meter sticks, clothespins, rubber bands and coins), and you're ready to explore TOPS Learning Systems hands-on.

GRADE RANGE: 6-11

ORIGINS: written by Ron Marson / illustrated by Peg Marson / copyrighted in 1993 
by TOPS Learning Systems / ISBN 0-941008-74-6

ORDERING: Please print a copy of our order form, which lists all our titles. Use this form (or scratch paper) to track your ordering preferences as you browse our website.

#04 BALANCING @ $8.00 
#SS109 10 mL Graduated Cylinder @ $3.50